Who’s it for:

• CX and Contact Center leaders navigating 2026 budgeting and pressured to “show ROI” on AI investments
• Supervisors and operations managers evaluating where AI can actually improve performance
• Executives and transformation teams responsible for selecting the right AI partners
• Teams overwhelmed by data and looking for clarity, prioritization, and measurable impact

Recap & Review

The pressure to “implement AI” has never been stronger — but buying AI and getting ROI from AI are two very different outcomes.

In this session, Mark Ezzell (AmplifAI) and Paul Weiss (Bluewave Technology) broke down the realities organizations face during budgeting season: unclear requirements, scattered data, misaligned expectations, and the myth that AI will transform the business the minute it’s turned on.

The conversation centered around one truth:
AI isn’t a tool you buy — it’s an organizational shift that requires clarity, prioritization, and adoption to drive impact.

The speakers explored how to identify real problems worth solving, assess your data readiness, and select AI partners who understand contact center operations deeply enough to deliver measurable value.

Key topics included:

• Why 2026 will be a defining year for AI maturity
• The real drivers behind AI success (hint: it’s not dashboards)
• How to identify the true business problems worth solving
• Data readiness myths — and why most companies already have more than enough
• The right way to evaluate AI vendors beyond features and demos
• Where ROI in contact center AI actually comes from

5 Takeaways That Matter

1. Don’t Start with the AI Vendor — Start with the Problem

Paul said it plainly:
“Too many companies start with the solution before they understand the why.”

Organizations often begin by shopping tools, but the most successful AI programs begin with granular problem definition:

• What exactly is the friction?
• Who feels it?
• How often does it happen?
• What’s the business impact of solving it?

This shift prevents endless vendor evaluation cycles, internal misalignment, and the dreaded “no decision” outcome that plagues most AI initiatives.

Bottom line: If you can’t clearly articulate the problem, AI can’t solve it.

2. You’re Probably More ‘Data Ready’ than You Think

Mark addressed one of the most common blockers:
“We’re not ready — our data isn’t perfect.”

The truth?
Most companies already have the required data.
It’s just scattered, siloed, or underutilized.

AI isn’t about creating new data — it’s about unifying what you already have:

• Transcripts
• Surveys
• CSAT
• CRM events
• Quality data
• HR attributes
• Handle time
• Routing metadata

AI gives you the ability to look across all of it at once to understand causes, correlations, and action paths that were previously invisible.

Bottom line:
Your data doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be unified and usable.

3. AI ROI Comes from People — Not Just Efficiency

While vendors often tout handle-time reduction or percentage lift in automation, both presenters reinforced a more important truth:

Real ROI comes from performance, retention, and revenue — not tiny efficiency tweaks.

Paul highlighted this with a client example:
Increasing conversion by just a few points led to a 25x ROI compared to the tech investment.

Most ROI exercises fail because they only look at:

• AHT
• QA efficiency
• Cost savings

But the biggest levers are actually:

• Reduced attrition
• Better hiring and training
• Stronger supervisor coaching
• Increased conversion
• Fewer escalations
• Reduced negative experiences

Bottom line:
If your ROI model only focuses on efficiency, you’re missing the biggest opportunities.

4. AI Adoption Requires Culture, Not Just Technology

Mark emphasized one of the most overlooked truths:

“Buying AI doesn’t mean you get value from AI.”

To truly realize ROI, organizations need:

• Leader buy-in
• Coaching alignment
• Ownership of action plans
• Post-go-live iteration
• A culture willing to change behaviors

Vendors provide technology.
Organizations create transformation.

And without adoption frameworks, the AI—even the best AI—will sit unused.

Bottom line:
AI requires partnership, change management, and ongoing reinforcement to drive impact.

5. The Biggest AI Wins Come from Clarity, Prioritization, and Focus

Paul introduced a simple but powerful framework:
Frequency → Friction → Value

If a workflow checks all three boxes, it’s a priority for AI investment.
This helps organizations avoid:

• Boiling the ocean
• Sprawling pilots
• Spinning in “experiment mode”
• Investing in solutions misaligned with business outcomes

Likewise, when evaluating vendors, teams should focus on:

• Ease of implementation
• Time to value
• Contact center expertise
• Scalability
• Ability to impact performance, not just analytics

Bottom line:
Clarity and prioritization create ROI — not technology alone.

Resource Download

CMP Research Report

Download the CMP Prism Report on AutoQA vendors to see where AmplifAI stands out.

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🎙️ Final Quote

“AI doesn’t show up magically and fix the organization. ROI comes from clarity, collaboration, and adoption — not just the technology you buy.”
— Paul Weiss, Managing Partner, Bluewave Technology

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